The Guru and the Jerk

"The greatest education in the world cannot be bought, sold, or given, because life will give it to you for free whether you want it or not."-Street performer in Paris

There came a point in my studies when I suddenly realized I had adopted so many beliefs about spirituality that I had begun to build a self imposed prison for myself. I started to see that my inner list of 'shoulds' had doubled... More

"The greatest education in the world cannot be bought, sold, or given, because life will give it to you for free whether you want it or not."-Street performer in Paris

There came a point in my studies when I suddenly realized I had adopted so many beliefs about spirituality that I had begun to build a self imposed prison for myself. I started to see that my inner list of 'shoulds' had doubled, even tripled since I had picked up my first spiritual self help book and begun reading. I didn't realize it, but I was in the process of slowly constricting myself with all of my beliefs about how I should live, what I should do, and what I should think or feel.

It was an interesting paradox because I absolutely LOVED reading and studying spiritual texts, ancient religions, and a variety of 'how to' techniques within the spiritual realms. However, as a result of trying to adopt too many different beliefs I had become scared of living my life!

I started to acknowledge that there was a potential dark side to spiritual self help and this dark side survived within the word 'denial'. You see, part of the problem was that folks were starting to think that it wasn't okay to have emotions anymore. Doh, what!? Yes, you heard it right, people began thinking that it was not okay to have a 'negative emotion' and worse, started 'shoulding' that on each other. 'You shouldn't allow yourself to be angry'.

Somewhere along the road a lot of people had begun denying their natural emotions in lieu of what they felt they should be thinking. Somewhere along the road a lot of people had begun denying their natural desires in lieu of what they felt that they should be wanting. Somewhere along the road people began pretending that they were someone who they weren't, because they shouldn't be themselves.

It's crazy and yet I witnessed a darker side begin to perpetuate itself through 'should'. I began to see that what was really needed was emotional honesty and integrity. I began to see through many of the neurotic, plastered on smiles, to the desperately struggling people behind them, trying to hold on.

Fake it until you make it is one thing. But to live in total denial of all reality is quite another.

So I took a deep breath and began to write this series. I decided that I would include all of my own humanity, all of my little quirks, and all of my own personal addictions in life. And an amazing thing happened; as I wrote I began to feel relief! It felt as if a great weight was lifted from my back. Suddenly I was human again and no longer had to pretend that I was perfect! You cannot imagine how wonderful it is to allow yourself to not have to be perfect when their are thousands of people who you are worried you are going to let down.

The Guru and the Jerk is about me being real about my life as a spiritual teacher. It's about learning how to live in the world and also transcend it at the same time.

Christopher A. Pinckley is the author of the spiritual self-help book Reality Creation 101 rated 5 Stars by Amazon Top 10 Reviewers and hailed by many as The Integral Secret. Christopher’s philosophy and teachings revolve around the belief that life is a game and we’re here to create what we want in joy. As a spiritual life coach he is able to share his teachings with people through his break through program Reality Creation Coaching (RCC), based upon the real life principles in his book. Christopher is entirely self taught having learned most of his life lessons on the streets and through personal self study. In 1999 he became a meditation practitioner and learned a variety of mind/body exercises that began to expand his consciousness and help him to become more self-actualized. His first greatest achievement was his personal training business that became a huge success for him shortly after he learned meditation. Christopher now spends his time coaching clients out of his home in Northern California, working on his second and third books, and writing articles and blog entries for various online publications and his mind/body science blog Holisticfitness4U.